Prosecutors said that a man on bail for being a felon in possession of a firearm shot a woman and fired toward four other people, including his estranged wife, over the weekend.
Gabreil Arnold is the 13th person charged with killing or shooting — or trying to shoot or kill — someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony. The alleged crimes involve at least 26 victims, six of whom died.
Arnold’s wife, who is going through divorce proceedings, went to his home Saturday afternoon with some friends to pick up the two children she had with Arnold. An argument broke out and turned physical, but three of the woman’s friends, all females, intervened when Arnold tried to hit his wife, Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis said.
Arnold, 28, allegedly threatened to kill one of the women during the altercation, which was captured on video without sound.
Kalliantasis said Arnold got into a car and drove to his mother’s home on the 1700 block of West 78th Street. His ex-wife and the others followed in their car and parked behind his vehicle.
But Arnold emerged from an alley with a gun and began firing, Kalliantasis said. One round struck the woman he previously threatened to kill in her shoulder as she sat in the car, according to Kalliantasis.
Police found five shell casings at the shooting scene, and a ShotSpotter detected five gunshots in the area, he said.
Arnold’s wife and the others returned to their car, drove about two blocks, then called 911. EMS took the injured woman to Advocate Christ Medical Center. She has since been released, but the bullet remains lodged in her shoulder, Kalliantasis said.
Police located Arnold on Monday and took him into custody. He allegedly admitted to getting into an argument but denied shooting anyone.
Prosecutors charged him with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, and four counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm. He was convicted of two robberies in 2012 and aggravated domestic battery in 2013, according to Kalliantasis.
Private defense attorney Richard Fenbert argued that Arnold left the initial incident, but the group followed him.
The allegations sound like “they’re the ones that pursued my client,” Fenbert told Judge Susana Ortiz. He said Arnold’s pending felony gun case was getting close to trial.
Those allegations stem from an incident in July 2021. Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert and a woman reported that two men fired guns in the area. Officers found Arnold in the area and tried to stop him because he allegedly matched the description of one gunman.
Arnold ran, bent over by some bushes, then continued running until police caught him, prosecutors alleged during a bail hearing last year. Cops returned to the bush and allegedly found a loaded handgun that had been reported stolen from Tennessee.
Court records show he went home by posting 10% of the $50,000 bail set by Judge David Navarro.
On Wednesday, Judge Ortiz ordered Arnold held without bail on the new charges. She also held him without bail for violating the bond terms in his pending gun case.
The “not horrible” series
This report continues our coverage of individuals who have been accused of murder, attempted murder, or shooting firearms toward people while on bond for a pending felony case. CWBChicago began our series of reports in November 2019 after Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated, “we haven’t had any horrible incidents occur” under the court’s bond reform initiative.
The actual number of murders and shootings committed by people on felony bail is undoubtedly much higher than the numbers seen here. Since 2017, CPD has made arrests in less than 5% of non-fatal shootings and 33% of murders, according to the city’s data. You can support CWBChicago’s work by becoming a subscriber today.